STUDIOS PASS ON BRAD PITT’S MONEYBALL

Sony head Amy Pascal reportedly pulled the plug on Steven Soderbergh’s adaptation of Michael Lewis’ Moneyball (starring Brad Pitt) three days before filming was set to start. That allowed the filmmakers to court other studios. Long story short, everyone passed.

Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, which were offered a chance to pick up the project from Sony, have also passed because of concerns about its high budget [$57 million] and limited commercial appeal. “Moneyball” is now back in Sony’s hands, where the director will either have to make changes or the project will die and the studio will absorb nearly $10 million it already spent on development and pre-production.

According to a person close to the situation, Pascal met with Soderbergh to see if he was willing to revise his take, but the two couldn’t agree on a vision for the film. They also disagreed over Soderbergh’s plan to shoot the film in a more improvisational documentary style. She allowed “Moneyball’s” creative team to pitch the movie to Paramount and Warner Bros., where Pitt and Soderbergh have close ties. [LA Times via Playlist]

Meanwhile, some people are saying it was actually Pitt who didn’t like the script and Pascal just covered for him.

Either way, it doesn’t sound like killing it was a bad decision. Here’s the book description from Wiki:

The book argues that the Oakland A’s’ front office took advantage of more empirical gauges of player performance to field a team that could compete successfully against richer competitors in Major League Baseball. Rigorous statistical analysis had demonstrated that on-base percentage and slugging percentage are better indicators of offensive success, and the A’s became convinced that these qualities were cheaper to obtain on the open market than more historically valued qualities such as speed and contact. These observations often flew in the face of conventional baseball wisdom and the beliefs of many baseball scouts and executives.

Mmm mm. Yes, there’s nothing better suited to a visual medium than intense statistical analysis. They should’ve just done a mash-up with this and Angels & Demons, and capitalized on two birds with one turd. “But Professor Langdon, you don’t really mean to say that on-base percentage is the first segno of offensive success!” “I do indeed. Mark my words, the Illuminati will win the pennant.” Angels & Demons & Moneyball & Farts, they could’ve called it.

On-base percentage doesn’t tell you shit. I’ve been to second base on plenty of women and got caught stealing third most of the time.

Now slugging percentage gets higher the lower the on base percentage is because I usually have to punch my pecker instead of having sex.

By: Stinky Peet

06.23.2009 @ 3:12 PM

JHC, Billy Bean’s famous answer to your question was “My shit doesn’t work in the playoffs.” Meaning his statistical analysis held truer over a 162 game season than it did in a small sample like a five- or seven-game series.

Great book, would make a horrible movie.

By: Stinky Peet

06.23.2009 @ 3:13 PM

They should replace Pitt with Matt Damon and call it Good Will Bunting.

I know that you’re stressed and typing quickly, so I’ll assume you weren’t considering the end of War Games and let that slide.

By: Crapbasket

06.23.2009 @ 3:26 PM

I have this awesome script about automobile traffic flow rate models that I’ve finally gotten hammered down. I see Clive Owen as the lead. The killer scene with the line that all the hipsters will repeat, “How can you not realize that Saturday has the greatest mean traffic rate of any other day? Traffic compression and rate time degeneration at rush hour is a result of a V wave pulse in infrastructure capacity, not due to the number of vehicles travelling in sum. Assbag.”

By: Crapbasket

06.23.2009 @ 3:26 PM

Mmmmmaaaaat Daaaayyyymmmmoooonnnn!

^still obligatory

By: Crapbasket

06.23.2009 @ 3:28 PM

MZI, I’d piss on a spark plug if it would have helped me think of that.

By: Vodka

06.23.2009 @ 3:33 PM

I don’t have to take that from you, you pig-eyed sack of shit.

By: Al

06.23.2009 @ 3:36 PM

I don’t understand. What about GAA and plus-minus?

By: thunderdan22

06.23.2009 @ 3:38 PM

brad pitt throws like a girl but catches like a fuckin’ faggot

By: Crapbasket

06.23.2009 @ 3:40 PM

COTW is a strange game, the only winning move is, not to play.

By: Vodka

06.23.2009 @ 3:42 PM

Sounds like this movie is stuck in the on-deck circle.

And I’m now stuck in the corner.

By: Vodka

06.23.2009 @ 3:43 PM

I think it’s safe to say this screenplay sucks.

By: Crapbasket

06.23.2009 @ 3:44 PM

Can’t get into that without dropping a few spoilers.

By: Crapbasket

06.23.2009 @ 3:47 PM

Naw dka, I think it was foul tipped on a check swing, got thrown around the horn on the way back home, then got tossed in with the other bad balls.

By: RefinedEffort

06.23.2009 @ 3:49 PM

Brad Pitt’s balls love playing cribbage and listening to old negro spirituals.

By: Påüłÿ Ðąηgęrσűşľγ

06.23.2009 @ 3:57 PM

I WANT THIS MOVIE IN MY MOUTH!

By: RefinedEffort

06.23.2009 @ 3:59 PM

FANGSTERS!

By: tankdoll

06.23.2009 @ 4:00 PM

i read the same post on withleather. this one is way funnier, which is usually the case when comparing anything with withleather.

By: Påüłÿ Ðąηgęrσűşľγ

06.23.2009 @ 4:04 PM

I’d like to swing Brad Pitt’s dick like the pink bat they use on Mother’s Day.

By: Påüłÿ Ðąηgęrσűşľγ

06.23.2009 @ 4:06 PM

Dude, did I just catch the gay holy ghost?

HALLESCREWYA! GAYMEN!

By: tankdoll

06.23.2009 @ 4:07 PM

10 bucks says the movie ends with the A’s winning a world series and gay-day at oakland-alameda county coliseum. another 10 bucks says that there is a vibrator called rollie fingers.